Powered toy airplanes having props driven by a wound rubber band have long amused and entertained both children and adults alike. Some such toy airplanes have been provided with launchers designed to propel or launch the plane into the air for flight. U.S. Pat. No. 1,565,437 of Greife, for example, discloses a toy airplane and launcher having an airplane with a spring driven propeller that is wound manually before the plane is mounted in a spring-loaded catapulting launcher. U.S. Pat. No. 2,426,437 of Cole, et al discloses a similar device wherein a toy glider airplane is forcibly propelled from a pistol-shaped launcher by means of a pre-tensioned rubber band. Other examples of this type of toy plane and launcher system include the devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,496,671 of Korona; 2,035,131 of Kkeinberg; 3,902,271 of Turoff; and 3,031,797 of Gelfand.
A more recent example of a toy airplane and launcher is embodied in the apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,852 of Crisci, et al. In Crisci, et al the toy airplane includes a propeller that is driven by a wound rubber band to power the plane for flight. The plane is mountable on a pistol-shaped rubber band powered launcher that, when activated, propels and projects the toy plane forcibly into the air for flight.
Crisci, et al also includes a separate electrically powered winding device having a rubberized suction cup-like coupler that spins when the winder is activated. For use, the rubberized coupler is pressed onto the propeller's hub cap and the winder is activated, causing the coupler and thus the propeller to spin, thereby winding up the plane's rubber band in preparation for flight.
In one of the Crisci, et al embodiments, the toy airplane has a propeller mounted on the back end of the plane in a pusher-prop configuration. In this embodiment, the electrically operated winder can be mounted temporarily onto the back of the launcher and adjusted so that its rubberized coupler engages the prop's hub cap when the plane is fully mounted onto the launcher. Thus, the plane can be mounted onto its launcher whereupon the electric winder is activated to wind the propeller thereby winding up the rubber band in preparation for flight.
While prior devices such as those disclosed in the above referenced patents appear to be somewhat successful in providing a toy airplane and launcher system that is more convenient than purely manual systems, they nevertheless exhibit various problems and shortcomings that are inherent in their respective designs. In all but the Crisci, et al device, for example, the toy airplane is either a simple glider or has a rubber band or spring powered propeller that must be wound up manually before the plane is loaded onto the launcher. Crisci, et al attempts to address this problem by providing a battery powered electrical winder, which at least eliminates some of the effort required in winding up the plane's rubber band. However, the Crisci, et al device exhibits its own new set of problems and shortcomings. For example, the winder of Crisci, et al, being electrically operated, always requires a fresh set of batteries. Without such batteries, the winder is useless and one is forced to abandon the winder and simply wind up the plane's rubber band by hand in the old fashion way. This is particularly troublesome in a children's toy, which can remain in storage for long periods of time, such as over the winter, between uses. Further, the winder mechanism of Crisci, et al is complicated, expensive to manufacture, likely to be misplaced, and subject to failure under the sometimes rough treatment of children. Also, since the winder of Crisci, et al is electrically operated, its user is not provided with direct feedback regarding how tightly the plane's rubber band is being wound so that the rubber band can easily be under or over wound and can even be wound until the rubber band breaks.
Thus, a need exists for an improved toy airplane and launcher system that overcomes the problems and shortcomings of the prior art by providing a toy plane that is propeller powered and that can be wound up simply and without the need for batteries after the plane is loaded onto the launcher. The winding mechanism should be simple and rugged, easy to operate by children, non-detachable, and should allow its user to determine the degree to which the plane's rubber band motor is being wound to avoid over or under winding. It is to the provision of such a toy airplane and launcher system that the present invention is primarily directed.